Product Design: Introduction to Ergonomic Considerations

Ergonomics is an important part of any product design. Whether your product or workstation is comfortable to use will make or break your customer's relationship with it. This course will introduce you to the principles of ergonomic design.

Course info

Level

Beginner

Updated

Jun 5, 2018

Duration

1h 17m

Description

Ergonomic principles are applied to decrease the strain on a human body allowing them to work harder or for longer while remaining comfortable and avoiding injury. This course, Product Design: Introduction to Ergonomic Considerations, will help you begin implementing these principles into your design. First, you will see how to calculate static forces and understand how they can create injuries over time. Next, you will be exposed to some risk assessment best practices. Finally, you will get see some examples of good ergonomic design as it applies to display and control layouts for many types of workspaces. When you're finished with this course, you will be ready to correctly design for the majority of your users.

About the author

Robert Graduated from the University of Utah in 2014 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Emphasis on Ergonomics and Safety. He works in the consumer electronics industry designing audio products such as headphones, earbuds, and bluetooth speakers. He has his CSWE certification (Expert) and is married with two kids.

More from the author

Section Introduction Transcripts

Course OverviewHi everyone. My name is Robert Murdock, and welcome to my course, Product Design: Introduction to Ergonomic Considerations. Ergonomics is the study of reducing strain on the human body. Nearly every person who works in an office is developing accumulating injuries which will make them feel old and weak much younger than they need to. Designers with a good understanding of ergonomics can help prevent that. In this course, you will be introduced to many ways that the objects in your world may affect you. You will learn how to identify risky products and behaviors, quantify them, and with these tools you can design workspaces and products, which reduce or even remove those risks. Some of the major topics we will cover include calculation of static forces, risk assessment, and display and control layout. By the end of this course, you will know how to read anthropometric data and how to correctly design for the majority of your users. Before beginning this course, you should be familiar with high school algebra. From here, you should be comfortable diving into product design with courses on 3D modeling, prototyping, and design documentation. I hope you'll join me on this journey to learn ergonomics with the course, Product Design: Introduction to Ergonomic Considerations, at Pluralsight.